Refrigerator door latch



Aug. 20, 1957 E. E. FOSTER REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 30, 1954 INVEN'iOR E. FOSTER ATTORNEYS E. E. FOSTER Y REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH Aug. 20, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 30. 1954 INVENT OR p EDWIN E. FOSTER 20; 1957 E. E. FOSTER REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH Filed Dec. 50, i954 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 BY I Z WV Z;

Y ATTORNEYS 0, 1957 r E. E. FOSTER 2,803,486

REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH Filed Dec. 30, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 n vs l I I INVENTOR o \5 i Q EDWW E, FOSTER V I k q;

BY I k w w w ATTORNEYS United States REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH Edwin E. Foster, Austin, Tex.

Application December 30, 1954, Seriai No. 47 8,644

16 Claims. (Cl. 292-216) The present invention relates to a latch for doors and particularly for refrigerator doors.

It is an object of this invention to provide a door catch with an operating handle to release the catch and also release means on the inside of the refrigerator door operable to release the latch from the inside of the refrigerator. A further object of the invention is to provide a door latch which releases with a feather-light touch of the handle from the outside or inside of the door. Another object of the invention is to provide a door latch with means to replenish the energy required to open the door by a closing movement of the door passing through approximately 45 of its closing stroke relative to the open plane of the refrigerator.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of an L-shaped link or arm to allow the door to open completely. Another object of the invention is to provide a spring for the opening and closing mechanism which is as strong at the end of its stroke where the force is needed as at the beginning of the stroke. A further object of the invention resides in the formation of the latch member provided with a cam member so shaped that it will apply enough force against the gasket of the refrigerator door to take care of slight variations in gasket thickness.

Further objects will be apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 is a top plan view partly in section showing the door latch in its latched position,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the parts in the position wherein the latch has just been released and the door is beginning to open,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 2 showing the door approximately open 45 with the spring about ready to'be reloaded,

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Figs. 1 to 3 with the parts in position for re-engagement upon approaching the door closed position,

Fig. 5 is an end view of the latch operator, and

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a modified inner and outer release mechanism for the door.

The drawings show the opening parts of the refrigerator 7 with the door 2 hinged at 23 and having the usual sealing gasket 29. A bracket 6 is secured on the open side of the refrigerator and is provided with a roller 5. A latch member 4 is pivoted on a pin 3 and is provided with a slotted fork comprising a cam or cam surface 36, a long arm 37 and a short arm 33. The pin 3 is mounted in a U-shaped frame 1 secured to the front side of the door 2. The arm 37 has one end of a constant tension coil spring 8 at the pivot point or pin 9 with the other end of the spring secured to a C-shaped arm or setting member 1% at point or pin 11.

The member or arm 10 is pivoted to the bracket 1 at' the point or pin 12. and carries a second pivot point or pin 13 on which a latch 14 is pivoted. A torsion spring 15 urges the latch member 14 against a limit stop 16 on the arm 10. A double link 17 is pivoted on the pin 12 and is provided with a roller 18 which is adapted to engage the latch member 14 in a certain position of the parts. A tension link 19 connects the link 17, by means of a pin 20, to a rocker arm 21 at a point or pin 22. The arm 21 is preferably mounted in line with the hinge point of the door at 23. The arm 21 has a limit stop at a point 24 and is held against the stop by means of a torsion spring 25. A handle lever 26 is pivoted in the bracket or frame 1 at a point or on a pin 27 and is provided with a finger 28 which abuts against the latch member 14 causing the member 14 to move the latter counter-clockwise off of the roller 18. This releases one end of the spring 8, which is compressed or flexed and permits the latch member 4 to pivot clockwise about the pin 3 and allows the door to come open, Fig. 2. When the door has been opened about 45, Fig. 3, the push link 19 will have moved to the left and the link 17 will have been rotated counterclockwise about the pin 12 as will be seen from Figs. 2 and 3, where the roller 18 will again cooperate with the latch member 14. As the door is moved from this 45 open position, Fig. 3, to the closed position, the spring 8 will be loaded as shown in Fig. 4. When the latch member 4 abuts the roller 5, the pin 9 will move across dead center and pull the door tightly closed against the gasket 29, Fig. 1.

A small spring 30 is pivoted to the latch 4 of the arm 38 on pin 31 and its other end is pivoted to the bracket 1 on a pin 32. At the time the handle is released, this spring 30 causes the latch to move clockwise to the position shown in Fig. 2 and will kick the door open and hold the latch 4 in its cross-center position.

A release plate 33 is pivoted on a pin 34 and may 'be actuated from the inside of the door to cause the link 35 to release the latch 14 when the plate 33 is pushed.

The L-shaped arm 21 is provided with the spring 25 in order to allow the door to open completely without the link 19 coming into a cross-center position.

The complete operation of the latch is obvious from the foregoing description and by following Figs. 1 to 4 the complete cycle of operation may be followed with the parts in their various positions in cooperation With the movements of the interconnected elements.

Fig. 6 relates to a modified inner and outer release mechanism for the door 2 in the form of a double acting push rod 45 projecting through to the inside of the door by the portion 46 and having an outside button 47. The push rod is made of any suitable material and particularly of lucite either tinted or colorless or it may be made of any other plastic material. The advantage of lucite or a clear plastic is that it is capable of permitting light to be transmitted through the rod 45 from the outside to the inside to guide a person accidently locked in a refrigerator to find the emergency release actuator. The rod 45 is connected to a lever 48 pivoted at 49 to a bracket 50 secured on the inside of the door. The lever 48 has a forked end 51 connected to the rod 45 and a spring 52 keeps the rod 45 in the position of Fig. 6. The lever 48 rests against the finger 28 which as described acts to release the latch when the rod 45 is pushed from within or pulled from without. A radiant paint dot 53 may be provided to more easily locate the rod from the inside of the box.

As to the structure, function and operation of the springs 8 and 39 as well as the spring connected to the handle 26 and the pin 12, attention is directed to Patent No. 2,630,316. These springs are elastic devices which incorporate deflection through flexing, maintaining a constant force resisting compression. Thus this spring is an extension-type spring rather than a compression-type last approximate 45 movement of its stroke. This is not noticeable in actual operation, since it is distributed over such a long stroke. The cam surface 36 is shaped in such a way that it will apply enough force against the gasket 29 andwill take care of slight variations in the thickness of the gasket,due to wear, etc. .Also, the type of spring used and referredto as flexing springs are well adapted for the purpose to be attained since such springs areas strong at the end of its st-roke where the force is needed.

In order to summarize the operation of the latch, the parts are in the latched position in Fig. 1 with the door completely and tightly closed. If now the handle 26 is pulled outwardly a pivoting thereof on the pin 27 will cause the finger 28 to rotate the member 14 counterclockwise to thus permit the member 10 to rotate counterclockwise about the pin 12. This causes release of one end of the spring 8 where it is pivoted to the member 10 and permits the latch member 4 to pivot clockwise about the pin 3 so that immediately the door opens to the extent shown in Fig. 2. The door can now be rotated on its hinges at 23 and when it reaches the open position of Fig. 3 the push link 19 will have moved to the left to again cooperate with the latch member 14. When now the door is moved toward the closed position the spring 8 will be bowed from the straight position of Fig. 3 to the arched position of Fig. 4', thus placing the latch member ready to function for complete closure of the door. Therefore when the latch 4 abuts the roller 5, the pin 9 will move across'dead center and by clockwise rotation of the latch 4 around the pin 3, the door will be pulled completely closed as in Fig. l.

The parts 37 and 16 are in fact double arms and the spring 8 in order to maintain it in exact position on the pins 9 and 11, suitable bronze sleeves, not shown except in Pig. 5, are mounted on the pins 9 and 10 with a central groove around each sleeve for the eyes of each spring end. This construction keeps the ends of the spring 8 spaced inthe center of the double arms 37 and 10.

Is is, of course, obvious that various modifications may be made in the structure and operation of the latch limited of course to the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invent-ion:

l. A closure mechanism particularly for refrigerator doors and the like, comprising a frame to be secured to the inside surface of a refrigerator door, a latch member pivotally mounted at one end in the frame and composed of a cam and a long arm arranged radially from the pivot,

a'setting member pivotally mounted at the other end of the frame and being composed of two arms with one arm forming the pivot point for the member, a flexing spring pivotally connected at one end to the long arm of the latch member and the other end of the'spring pivotally connected to the other arm of the setting member, said spring exerting a constant force between its two pivot points, a door handle pivotally mounted in the frame and operatively connected to actuate the setting member, and means connected adjacent to a hinge axis of the door and to the setting member to control the movement of the spring during the closing of the door.

2. A closure mechanism according to claim 1, in which a flexing spring is connected at one end to the short arm of the latch member and the other end to the frame to urge the latch member to its unlatched position.

.3. A closure mechanism particularly for refrigerator.

doors and the like, comprising'a frame to be secured to the inside surface of a refrigerator door, a latch member throughout the entire movethe frame and being composed of two arms with one arm forming the pivot point for the member, a flexing spring pivotally connected at one end to the long arm of the latch member and the other end of the spring pivotally connected to the other arm of the setting member, said spring exerting a constant force between its two pivot points, a door handle pivotally mounted in the frame and operatively connected to the setting member, means'conpivotally mounted at one end in the frame and composed ofa cam and a long arm arranged radially from the pivot, a setting member pivotally mounted at the other end of nected to a hinge of the door and to the setting member to control the movement of the spring during the closing of the door, and means connected to'the setting member operable from the inside or outside of the door to trip the latch member to enable the door to be opened from the inside or outside of the refrigerator.

4. A closure mechanism particularly for refrigerator doors and the like, comprising a frame to be secured to the inside surface of a refrigerator door, a latch member pivotally mounted at one end in the frame and composed of a cam and a long arm and a short arm'arranged radially from the pivot and angularly spaced from each other, a setting member pivotally mounted at the other end of the frame and being composed of two arms with one arm forming the pivot point for the member, a flexing spring pivotally connected at one end to the long arm of the latch member and the other end of the spring pivotally connected to the other arm of the setting member, said spring exerting a constant force between its two pivot points, a door handle pivotally mounted in the frame and operatively connected to the setting member, means connected to a hinge of the door and to the setting member trip the latch member to enable the door to be opened from the inside of the refrigerator;

5. A closure mechanism for refrigerator doors and the like, comprising a frame secured on the inside surface of the door, a latch member pivotally mounted in the frame and having a slotted fork comprising a cam surface and a pair of arms one longer than the other, a U-shaped member pivoted in the frame and spaced from the latch member, a coiled spring having an extending arm on each end connected with one extended arm to the longer of the two arms of the latch member and the other extending arm connected to the U-shaped member, a second coiled spring havin extending arms of which one arm is connected to the shorter of the two arms of the latch member and the other arm connected to the frame, and means including a handle and connected to actuate the -U-shaped member to open the latch member by means of the firstmentioned coil spring.

6. A closure mechanism for refrigerator doors and the like comprising a frame secured on the inside surface of the door, a latch member pivotally mounted in the frame and having a slotted fork comprising a cam surface and t a pair of arms one longer than the other, a U-shaped member pivoted in the frame spaced from the latch member, a coiled spring having an extendingarm on each end connected with one extended arm to the longer of the two arms of the latch member and the other extending arm of the spring connected to the U-shaped member, a second coiled spring having extending arms of which one arm is connected to the shorter of the two arms of the 7. A closure mechanism for refrigerator doors and the like comprising a frame secured on the inside surface of the door, a latch member pivotally mounted in the frame.

and having a slotted fork to cooperate with a bracket on the refrigerator and an arm extending from the slotted fork, an actuating member pivotally mounted in the frame and having an arm extending from the pivot point,

a flexing spring in the form of a coil with extending opposite ends of which one end is connected to the arm of the latch member and the other end is connected to the arm extending from the actuating member, said spring being capable to be bowed laterally relatively to the longitudinal axis of the coils of the spring to constantly exert its force on the latch member, a second latch member pivotally mounted on the actuating member, means connected to a hinge of the door and cooperating with the latch member on the actuating member to control the movement of the latter, and a handle for the door pivotally mounted on the frame and operable to contact the latch member on the actuating member to permit rotation of the actuating member and in turn the flexing of the spring to actuate the first-mentioned latch member.

8. A closure mechanism particularly for refrigerator doors and the like comprising a frame secured on the door, a bracket secured on the refrigerator in a position to cooperate with the closure mechanism, a latch member pivotally mounted on the frame and having means to contact the bracket to pull the door to closed position, an actuating member pivotally mounted on the frame, a constant-tension spring in the form of a coiled wire with projecting ends and with one projecting end connected to the latch member and the other projecting end connected to the actuating member, said spring being adapted to bow laterally in a plane parallel to a plane passing through a longitudinal axis of the turns of the spring, and means in the door including a handle connected to operate the actuating member so that movement of the door will cause actuation of the spring to move the latter in a bowed position while the door is being moved to closing position to cause the latch member to pull the door tightly closed as the latch member moves in contact with the bracket and the spring gradually straightens out from the bowed position.

9. A closure mechanism according to claim 8, in which a second latch member is provided pivotally mounted on the actuating member and movable to hold the actuating member in position during the straightening movement of the spring and to hold the door in closed position.

10. A closure mechanism according to claim 8, in which a second latch member is provided pivotally mounted on the actuating member and movable to hold the actuating member in position during the straightening movement of the spring and to hold the door in closed position, and in which a handle is provided for the door pivotally mounted on the frame and connected to actuate the second latch to open the door.

11. A closure mechanism according to claim 8, in which a second latch member is provided pivotally mounted on the actuating member and movable to hold the actuating member in position during the straightening movement of the spring and to hold the door in closed position, and in which means are provided connected to the second-mentioned latch member to actuate the door to open the latter from either the inside or outside of the refrigerator.

12. A closure mechanism according to claim 8, in which a second latch member is provided pivotally mounted on the actuating member and movable to hold the actuating member in position during the straightening movement of the spring and to hold the door in closed position, and in which means are provided connected to the second-mentioned latch member to actuate the door to open the latter from either the inside or outside of the refrigerator, the last-mentioned means including a rod projecting from both sides of the door and operative as a push and pull rod.

13. A closure mechanism for refrigerator doors and the like of the type in which the door frame has a bracket secured thereto and the hinged door has a hollow shell structure, comprising a U-shaped frame secured in the shell of the door, a latch member pivotally mounted in the U-shaped frame and having a slotted member with v a cam surface and an extended arm, a setting member rotatably mounted in the U-shaped frame, a second latch member pivotally mounted on the setting member, a coiled spring having an extended arm on each end and being under constant tension with one arm connected to the extended arm of the first-mentioned latch member and the other arm connected to the setting member, a link connected at one end to cooperate with the hinge end of the door and the other end connected to the setting member by means of a roller and a link, and a handle lever for the door pivotally mounted in the U-shaped frame and having a finger part to abut against the secondmentioned latch member, said handle lever when operated tripping the second-mentioned latch member to permit rotation of the setting member so that the spring will rotate the first-mentioned latch member to pull the cam out of the bracket on the door frame so that the door will be free to be pulled wide open.

14. A closure mechanism for refrigerator doors and the like of the type in which the door frame has a bracket secured thereto and the hinged door has a hollow shell structure, comprising a U-shaped frame secured in the shell of the door, a latch member pivotally mounted in the U-shaped frame and having a slotted member with a cam surface and an extended arm, a setting member rotatably mounted in the U-shaped frame, a second latch member pivotally mounted on the setting member, a coiled spring having an extended arm on each end and being under constant tension with one arm connected to the extended arm of the first-mentioned latch member and the other arm connected to the setting member, a link connected at one end to cooperate with the hinge end of the door and the other end connected to the setting member by means of a roller and a link, and a handle lever for the door pivotally mounted in the U-shaped frame and having a finger part to abut against the secondmentioned latch member, said handle lever when operated tripping the second-mentioned latch member to permit rotation of the setting member so that the spring will rotate the first-mentioned latch member to pull the cam out of the bracket on the door frame so that the door will be free to be pulled wide open, said spring being capable of being bowed relative to its longitudinal axis but still maintaining its constant tension force on the arms of the spring and the spring brought to its bowed position upon the closing movement of the door by means of the link through the setting member.

15. A closure mechanism for refrigerator doors and the like of the type in which the door frame has a bracket secured thereto and the hinged door has a hollow shell structure, comprising a U-shaped frame secured in the shell of the door, a latch member pivotally mounted in the U-shaped frame and having a slotted member with a cam surface and an extended arm, a setting member rotatably mounted in the U-shaped frame, a second latch member pivotally mounted on the setting member, a coiled spring having an extended arm on each end and being under constant tension with one arm connected to the extended arm of the first-mentioned latch member and the other arm connected to the setting member, a link connected at one end to cooperate with the hinge end of the door and the other end connected to the setting member by means of a roller and a link, a handle lever for the door pivotally mounted in the U-shaped frame and having a finger part to abut against the second-mentioned latch member, said handle lever when operated tripping the second-mentioned latch member to permit rotation of the setting member so that the spring will rotate the firstmentioned latch member to pull the cam out of the bracket on the door frame so that the door will be free to be pulled wide open, and a second spring connected at one end to the U-shaped frame and the other end to the latch member to aid in the opening of the door by forcing the first-mentioned latch member out bf contact,

with the bracket on the door frame.

16. A closureamechanism for refrigerator doorsand the like comprising a frame: secured on the inside surface of the door, a latch member pivotally mounted in the frame and having a slotted fork to cooperate with a a bracket on the refrigerator and an arm extendingfromthe slotted fork, an actuatingmember pivotally mounted in' the frame and having an arm extending'fro'mthe pivot point, afiexing spring in the form of a coil'with extending opposite ends of which one end' isconnectedrto the arm of the latch member and the other end is connected to the arm extending from the actuating'member, saidspring being capable to be bowed laterally relatively to the longitudinal axis of the coils of the spring to. constantly exert its force on the latch member, a second latch member pivotally mounted on the actuating member, means'connected to a hinge of the door. and cooperating with the latch member on the actuating member to control the movement of the latter, and means operable from the 'outside of the door and connected to bow the spring laterally by the. first-mentioned means upon the closing movement of the door;

7 References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

